"Oh, ho, my hearty," Mr. Pike sneered at the gangster. "I'll take
care of your case, never fear. In the meantime, and right now, fetch
out that dog."
Whereupon he ignored the leader of the mutineers and began calling,
"Waltham, you dog, come out! Come out, you sneaking cur! Come out!"
ANOTHER LUNATIC, was the thought that flashed through my mind;
another lunatic, the slave of a single idea. He forgets the mutiny,
his fidelity to the ship, in his personal thirst for vengeance.
But did he? Even as he forgot and called his heart's desire, which
was the life of the second mate, even then, without intention,
mechanically, his sailor's considerative eye lifted to note the draw
of the sails and roved from sail to sail. Thereupon, so reminded, he
returned to his fidelity.
"Well?" he snarled at Bert Rhine. "Go on and get for'ard before I
spit on you, you scum and slum. I'll give you and the rest of the
rats two minutes to return to duty."
And the leader, with his two fellow-gangsters, laughed their weird,
silent laughter.
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